“Me? Well,” He swishes around his Sprite can like it’s a wine glass. “Allow me to introduce myself...I’m Leslie Hoggarth. Private Investigator. Lover of all things Dorito. Part-Time LARPer. Tinder Rejection Connoisseur. Founder and President of the “I Hate Ben Affleck” Club. Full supporter of Pluto being part of our solar system--” He pauses, squinting as he looks down on the ground. “Uh, yeah, I think that pretty much sums it u-- Oh, wait, no, I literally have my doctorate--”
the bell at the door jingles as jason enters, the clean scent of wood filling his senses as he looks around. a few regulars sand high praises over the craftsmanship of the woodworker. so jason makes a plan to visit and perhaps get something for a friend while he’s at it. though once he stepped through his jaw slackens and he’s in awe at the little trinkets and other bigger pieces the shop offers. there’s the sound of someone being in the shop with him and jason throws the person behind the counter a lop-sided smile.
❛ just having a look around, trying to get inspired for gift ideas. ❜
❝ can I help you not to hurt anymore? ❞ it’s not something they’ve ever talked about really — abel’s past. there were explanations given, bits of early letters too, but hyunshik knew that wasn’t who abel was so they moved on. he learned about abel’s favourite foods, the first thing he’d ever carved, what kind of movies he liked to watch. but every once & a while, hyunshik would be forced to remember the life abel lived before they knew each other, the things hyunshik needed to be careful of & it hurt. it pains him to see abel struggle with things as simple as holding hands ( though there’s no ignoring the immense amount of pride he feels at the sight of abel out of his comfort zone, thriving doing the things he should be ). ❝ i just mean... i don’t know what i can do to.. ❞ he’s lost for words, unsure of what he even wants to say. ❝ i don’t know... ❞
@griefkept: ‘ lately i’ve been feelin’ so cool . ’
' me too, bro. ’ gar could not contain his excitement. ‘ hey ! want to play some video games ? or arcade ? uh, are you into classic films as well ? ’ he wanted friends. the isolation he had when he was a child had to be made up. gar did not want to play mario kart 8 deluxe alone.
slides him a paper that says 'be my friend?' with the options 'yes' and 'yes'. maintains very strong eye contact. he's truly a savant at friendship.
✨ @griefkept … well. at least his answer was really thoughtful gfjlgd.
Oh, don’t worry. He won’t break eye contact, either. Not while he writes an entire page and then some for a reply. Virote brought his best glittery gel pen for this little moment, baby.
Hi.
The last time I received something like this was during my senior year of high school, right before I left that Hell Building™ for good. It was from a girl in one of my math classes. She was pretty nice, no one ever had anything bad to say about her. A real wallflower, if you wanna get real about it. Never kicked up a fuss, never made waves. Amiable. Nice. Her name was Lowry. She gave me a note, one day. It was all like…
Sometimes, I just feel like running away and never coming back. Everything feels like I’m constantly falling from a ledge. You look like you feel the same way? Y/N?
I circled Y, gave it back. Lowry was onto something. I felt the need to tell you this because it’s just a memory I found kind of funny. I will be your friend. I’m not a fair weather friend, so don’t expect me to run away when shit gets rough for you. Like, for example, if you end up getting a bad haircut that makes you look like a Juggalo. That’s my vow.
You should come closer and enjoy these stuffed peppers with me. This is my third basket and I think I’ve overshot my capabilities here. I’ve ordered too many. Last time I came here, I was able to eat five.
jonathan’s encounters with fans varies depending on the setting, but no matter what happens, he always tries his best to be cordial, collected, but always true to his persona - both offline and online. he does his very best to keep his composure, especially since the vast majority of his fans he finds to be, deep down, incredibly insipid, which drives him absolutely up the wall - mainly because they do not know how to keep their shit together when they meet him.
all he really wants is for a group of really intellectual people to read his work and discuss it in a civilized manner, but that does not seem to be happening anytime soon.
let’s break down how each encounter usually plays out. keep in mind, this also depends on jonathan’s mood at the time, so these are not every-time kinds of interactions, but they are the general rule.
at conventions - the easiest place to actually meet jonathan for a fan is at a convention, obviously. these can be held all around the world, especially since he is in dire need of the income sometimes. though he claims not to charge for autographs, he tends to gain a significant amount of income from merchandise sales and comic sales ( which he does get a cut of at the booths he signs at, though it is not necessarily a huge amount of money, it works for him ). so, in other words, he tells a half truth in this regard.
when people come up to have his stuff signed, he is the kindest to children and to people who have brought their animals with them ( usually dogs ). those are his favorites to sign for; nothing warms his heart more than to see the innocent, unconditional love of a child adore his work. as for adults, expect a general spectrum - if a fan is relatively normal, then he is okay with them. he makes a quip or two about their appearance, maybe how they’ve acted, but he’s cordial. he’s kind, a good man - the nice asshole that everyone knows and loves. you love him for it.
but then, there’s the people who act weird - those are both those getting stuff signed, and people who ask strange questions at panels. now those are the absolute worst for him. they make him loathe where he is in life, and he finds them to be the lowest of the low. these range from fans who openly state they want to have sex with him, to people who cannot seem to let him off the hook conversation-wise. sometimes, a dumb question is enough for him to really dislike a fan - these can include his opinion on an internet meme, or even a passing trend. why should he care is the usual response he gives, along with a sarcastic quip about the other person’s intelligence.
in other words, make sure to ask a thoughtful question - he is sick of getting the same ones.
out in the wild - jonathan rarely meets fans out and about, but when he does, he is pretty cordial about it. when asked to get photos taken with him, he obliges - though he does not consider himself a photogenic person. he often does the same thing he does at conventions, act the part of the nice asshole that everyone came to know him as, but he is generally kinder in the wild. conventions tend to wear on him more, and people have generally been more normal to him outside of them. he prefers to meet fans this way; it’s actually more exciting for him.
online - jonathan interacts with fans over twitter and instagram mainly; he’s shut down his facebook ( a fan page run by him ) because he hates the user interface, but he has a pretty active twitter and a semi-active instagram. here, he often makes jokes about politics, show’s he’s watching, and whatever else comes to mind. he does not tweet often, but he does sometimes. when people respond, especially his friends, he tends to boost their work or even directly message people to give them support if they’re in a moment of need. why he does this is not necessarily out of the goodness of his heart however. keep that in mind. he tends to use twitter more as a place to get validation than anything else - even though his fans are none the wiser about this.
as for instagram, jonathan often posts photographs or things that he finds on walks that interest him, or feels will interest his fanbase. sometimes, when people comment, he replies to them - though how he does so depends on his mood. if he finds the comment annoying and/or unproductive, he calls them out for it and/or deletes it. frankly, he can be rather immature with people on social media - but for whatever reason, likely due to is nice asshole persona, this keeps him from getting treated like the social pariah he should be treated as.
through e-mail - private messages with jonathan are most common here. he still acts like his normal nice assholish self ( the persona ), but cracks of the real jonathan come through at times, depending on how nice the fan speaking to him is ( or how mature ). of course, this was the venue he and annie spoke through, but he often chats with fans about his work, their work, or ways to get into the industry. he’s been surprisingly helpful via e-mail, but his replies are sparse.
❝ but how am i supposed to know when to let the feelings show? ❞ for someone as happy go lucky as hyunshik seems, he rarely opens up. perhaps it’s the beer in hand, perhaps it’s the friendly face watching him, or perhaps he thinks it’s just time to talk. ❝ i guess you’re not the person to ask though... hah. aren’t we just two peas in a pod? ❞ he wonders if he’s had too much to drink, but he raises the beer bottle to his lips again anyway, cheeks flush & chest warm as he sips.
She hits the ground with a solid thump, hands still in her pockets. That’s the thing about walking around with your hands hidden - when you trip, or get bumped into, you end up on your ass without anything to catch your fall. She’s wincing, pulling her hands out of her pockets to brace on either side of the ground.
“Sorry.” Lips press together for a moment. “Ground and I have unfinished business.”
